One under-the-radar player to watch for each NBA team in 2017-18

By the end of the season and into the playoffs, Taurean Prince found himself in the starting lineup and was closing out games for the Hawks. He’s one of only 10 players in the league last season to average at least one steal, one block, one three-point make and two assists per 40 minutes last season, and with more opportunities, he’s going to really improve on what was an OK rookie season that showed a tremendous amount of promise.

The Celtics completely revamped a team that made the Eastern Conference Finals and could be better for a few reasons. The additions of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward are obvious — even though Hayward ruled himself out for the season following his gruesome injury in the opener — but Jaylen Brown’s growth, especially on the defensive end, is going to be huge. He has the size and quickness to bully point guards and the strength to slide down to the three spot. If he can tighten up his handle and shoot in the high 30 percent range from deep, Boston is going to be awfully scary. 

DeMarre Carroll wasn’t happy in his role in Toronto. The team ran an iso-heavy offense that gave little opportunities for a guy who doesn’t create for himself. While in Atlanta, Carroll was one of the NBA’s best three-and-D guys, and this season in Brooklyn should see an uptick in his numbers playing on a team essentially starting two point guards. There will be a lot more ball movement for Carroll this season, and he’s going to be a huge reason the Nets rise above their league-worst 20 wins last season. 

This offseason the Hornets traded for Dwight Howard and drafted Malik Monk, both moves that mean big things for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. While MKG has never been a great shooter, inserting Monk into the starting lineup means moving Nicolas Batum to the three and MKG to the four. He’ll have more space for cutting off the ball, and he’ll be quicker than most guys he matches up against. MKG has always been a plus defender, but adding a premier rim protector like Howard allows Kidd-Gilchrist to become even more aggressive in his individual matchups and as a help defender. 

The Bulls are going to be awful, but if there’s going to be any reason to watch it’s for rookie center Lauri Markkanen. During EuroBasket over the summer, Markkanen scored from everywhere on the floor and kept a Finnish basketball team competitive against teams like Slovenia. He even led his team to a win over the French national team. EuroBasket doesn’t always translate to the NBA, but shooting translates everywhere. 

With Jae Crowder in the mix this season, Cleveland is going to roll out an awfully small lineup to start games with Kevin Love in the five spot. This means that Tristan Thompson is going to come off the bench. The move makes sense in a league driven by the offensive side of the ball, but Thompson can be great off the bench playing alongside Derrick Rose or Isaiah Thomas, both guys who look to get in the paint and dish in pick-and-roll situations. Thompson might have better per-36 numbers this season with the changed role, though he'll be out of action for a month with a calf injury.

While it’s far from a lock, Dennis Smith Jr. is going to have a lot of say in who wins the Rookie of the Year in 2018. He’s quick, explosive and has a chip on his shoulder after seeing four point guard selected ahead of him. If nothing else, look for Smith to take advantage of his bouts with Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, De’Aaron Fox and Frank Ntilikina all season long. Fultz is the No. 1 pick, Ball has all of the hype and Fox has the Kentucky pedigree, but Smith could end up being the best after year one. 

Nikola Jokic got all of the offseason attention , and Paul Millsap brings a history of winning to a team that missed the postseason by one game on the last day of the regular season. However, if these Nuggets are going to succeed, Wilson Chandler is going to have to continue to play at the high level he was at last season. He’s now the full-time starter with Danilo Gallinari gone. Last season, Chandler averaged career highs in points and rebounds while starting only 33 games. This year, he might plateau, but as long as he doesn’t regress, the Nuggets are going to be scary for everyone. 

Of all of the backcourt tandems in the NBA — Golden State, Houston, Washington, Toronto, Portland, to name a few — Detroit might have the most underrated duo with the arrival of Avery Bradley. Reggie Jackson's propensity for wanting to attack opposing teams’ best players with the ball in his hands is going to have a running mate who has the same tenacity on the defensive end of the floor. Bradley is a bulldog who continues to grow his shooting confidence every year. Detroit narrowly missed the playoffs last year, but Bradley’s presence could see them slide in as a seven or eight seed this season. 

Not many thought that the JaVale McGee experiment would work, but he turned into a solid role player on a championship team. He played far from mistake-free basketball, but he became a staple in the Warriors' pick-and-roll sets with the second unit and served as a more-than-capable defensive anchor. If McGee continues to play within himself and the system, there is reason to believe that he will win a few Sixth Man of the Year votes with his combination of athleticism and size. 

With two Hall of Fame-type point guards running the show in H-Town, Capela is going to be on the receiving end of a lot of passes that lead to easy buckets. Capela has become a monster on the boards and averaged an impressive 19 and 12 per 36 last season while shooting 64 percent from the field. With teams game planning against not just James Harden, but now Chris Paul, Capela could see an explosion in his numbers this year. 

Domantas Sabonis is an incredibly raw offensive talent who hasn’t quite put it all together yet, but he has shown flashes of someone who can become a brilliant scorer. Indiana will probably give him more minutes as a center than Oklahoma City did, which will only help speed up the time it takes to see that potential become consistent production. He has great footwork and a soft touch around the rim, and when he stretches beyond the three-point line, he can knock down jumpers from deep. He has a complete offensive game, and Indiana is going to need all of it without Paul George to carry the load. 

It’s hard to say how under-the-radar Milos Teodosic is at this point as his praises have been sung all preseason, but watch for him anyway. The 30-year-old rookie is already one of the game’s elite passers, and he just so happens to be on a team with two of the NBA’s best finishers at the rim in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Teodosic is a joy to watch and a complete change of pace from what the Clippers get from Patrick Beverley — which is a good thing for everyone. 

Another dark horse ROY candidate, Kuzma shocked everyone with his phenomenal showing at the Las Vegas Summer League and continued to turn heads during the preseason. He’s shot the ball from range much better than anyone expected, he’s been fantastic moving without the ball and he is a willing defender. He’s going to have to fight both Julius Randle and Larry Nance for minutes, but you can fully expect him to be a part of Luke Walton’s rotation. He and fellow rookie Lonzo Ball work well together and look like the future of the franchise. 

It was a weird 2016-17 season for James Ennis, who saw his role change about 58 times in the 64 games that he played for Memphis last year, but this season he begins as the team's starting shooting guard in a well-defined role. With Tony Allen gone, Ennis is now the Grizzlies’ best perimeter defender. He’ll never be what Allen was on that end, but he’s proved to be more than capable of slowing down the opposing team’s best offensive threat. On the plus side, Ennis isn’t the offensive disaster that Allen was. There is a trade-off for sure, but his upside could mean good things for the Grizzlies. 

At age 30, James Johnson finally got that big contract and has been thrust into the starting lineup at power forward. It’s a small sample size of five games, but when he started last season he averaged 18, seven and five. What Johnson brings to the team is the ability to guard all five positions, which is going to be key early in the season with Rodney McGruder down with a shoulder injury. Johnson had a great 2017 campaign, receiving votes for Sixth Man and Most Improved, and should build on what was a great year. 

If Milwaukee is going to take the next step, Thon Maker is going to have to take that next step. From all accounts this offseason, Maker is well on his way in doing that. He’s worked on his strength, which will allow him to bang bodies in the paint and better finish through contact. He already has the quickness and timing to become one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, and he shoots remarkably well for a man his size from range. If Maker can increase his scoring, especially around the rim, it takes a lot of pressure off Giannis  Antetokounmpo, Malcolm Brogdon and Jabari Parker this year. 

Taj Gibson is the ultimate glue guy, and when you have a team that’s a new mixture of established veterans and youthful potential, you absolutely need a glue guy. Gibson can give Minnesota 15 and 10 if the team needs it, and he’s happy chugging along for eight and seven every night, too. He’s small for a big but has incredibly long limbs that allowed him to become a mainstay in head coach Tom Thibodeau’s rotation back in Chicago. He’s lost a step defensively, but that won’t stop Thibs from using him as a vocal leader on that end. 

The Pelicans are going to have a much better feel for how Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are going to work together on the floor. But if there was one solidified fact about what this team needed heading into the 2017-18 season, it was spacing created by three-point shooting. Last year, Jordan Crawford — in the 19 games he played — provided just that — and even better, almost all of those games came after the All-Star break with Cousins on the roster. Crawford’s name pops up on three of the best five-man rosters with a minimum of 15 minutes together post ASG and the top two. New Orleans is a better offensive team with him on the floor (included in all four of the most efficient five-man lineups), and that only makes life easier for Boogie and Brow. 

Enes Kanter only spent 2.5 seasons in Oklahoma City, but it feels like he was there for much longer largely due to the impact he had in a limited role. The entirety of his time in Middle America was spent playing under the shadows of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but he was a key contributor. For the Knicks, Kanter brings the perfect complement to Kristaps Porzingis. He has excellent footwork around the block, uses his body well, and clears out space for himself and teammates on the boards. It’s going to be another down year in New York, but Kanter’s presence will help Porzingis flourish in his new role as the face of the Knicks.

The additions of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony only made Andre Roberson more important to the Thunder. George, an excellent defender in his own right, won’t have to worry about carrying the load on either end of the floor for the first time in his career. Roberson allows every defender to slide down, not in position, but in opposition skill level. He still isn’t worth half his weight on the offensive end of the floor, but teams aren’t just going to have to figure out how to stop the Thunder down the stretch — they’re going to have to figure out how to get buckets against two of the best wing defenders, one of the best roamers and an excellent rim protector. Carmelo will be there, too. 

After Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard went down with injuries during the 2017 playoffs, Jonathon Simmons showed up huge for the Spurs. He didn’t shoot particularly well from deep, but he was tenacious on the defensive end and relentless in his pursuit of the rim. For Orlando, he’ll bring athleticism and leadership off the bench for a team that has struggled mightily in both of those areas. Don’t expect huge improvements from Orlando, but the Magic should see more wins because of that improved bench with Simmons. 

The 2016-17 season was a disaster and a blessing for the 76ers. On one hand, Ben Simmons went down in the preseason and didn’t play a single minute of the regular season. Joel Embiid looked brilliant but was shut down after 31 games. Another lost season — or was it? The team finished with only 28 wins and ended up with Markelle Fultz in the draft, but more importantly, Dario Saric was able to spread his wings and show the world he would be a viable threat alongside the rest of The Process. With no one else there to run the show, Saric improved his numbers in each of the final three months of the season, ending with just under 18, seven and three in March. Saric’s roll will be reduced with Simmons and Embiid back in the fold, but he’s going to be an excellent third option closing out games for Philly. 

Tyson Chandler isn’t going to play forever, but while he continues to exist as a Phoenix Sun, he will continue to start and mentor the team’s future at center. Len is still growing his game on the offensive end of the floor, but he has a nice up-and-under move and great hands. He’s athletic and runs the floor well, but his value lies on the defensive end of the floor. Len already has two seasons with a block percentage above five, which is already one more than Chandler’s had in his career, and Chandler is a former Defensive Player of the Year. The Suns have a plethora of guys who can score in bunches, but if they’re going to improve at all, it has to be on the other end of the floor. That’s where Len will help out the most this season. 

Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum found something in Jusuf Nurkic. Both guards are excellent operating out of pick-and-roll sets, and Nurkic is excellent on the dive or pick-and-pop. On the weak side, Noah Vonleh sits, waits and cleans up any messes. He’s never a focal point in the offense, but toward the end of the season, Vonleh started showing that he can clean up on the glass. He averaged 8.1 rebounds over the last 20 games of the season, 11.2 per 36 over that stretch. Vonleh, when healthy, will get minutes on the floor for doing all of the little things that help teams on the verge take the next step toward title contention. 

After the NBA Draft, the talk of California’s capital was about the speedy De’Aaron Fox out of Kentucky. In a league flush with ultra-quick point guards, the Kings finally found one of their own. However, it’s George Hill who will provide a much-needed calm to a roster, on paper, that is all over the place. Buddy Hield will try to build on a decent rookie season while Zach Randolph and Willie Cauley-Stein work as the frontcourt battery. Hill brings stability to Sacramento’s history of becoming a broken home, and when the rookie point guard falters, the Kings will have a steady hand to put things back on course. 

This is the year that Gregg Popovich turns Kyle Anderson into a fully realized version of himself. Anderson, perpetually reserved, will find a way to shine in moments that San Antonio needs it the most. He doesn’t shoot particularly well, but he can score. He isn’t particularly fast, but he’s quick. He doesn’t pass looking for assists, but he has excellent vision. Anderson has been slow to find a regular spot in Pop’s rotation, but this feels like the year he becomes who we thought he’d be when he was drafted out of UCLA. 

If you want to point to a single reason why the Raptors turned a 2-1 series deficit into a series win over the Milwaukee Bucks, you should look no further than Toronto inserting Norman Powell into the starting lineup. The Raps won the next three games with Powell averaging 15 and three and shooting lights-out from deep. Powell was rewarded with a four-year extension during the offseason and will look to continue to become an X-factor behind Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. 

Of all of the hype coming out of this year’s rookie class, Donovan Mitchell received almost none of it. Mitchell is going to have some growing pains, for sure, but it’s not going to take long for him to figure out how to get buckets at the NBA level. He can finish with both hands, can shoot from range and can jump out of the gym. With Gordon Hayward gone, the division of responsibility will leave room for Mitchell’s growth, and you should feel confident that he will take full advantage of every opportunity.

The Achilles heel for the Wizards during the John Wall era, especially last season, has been the depth of the bench. The starting unit has had to watch built leads dissipate into nothingness. Expelling energy to build a lead is one thing, but using it to come back from lost leads is downright exhausting. When healthy, Morris is going to have to become the spark off the bench that, at the very least, helps sustain what has been built. Sustainability isn’t a lot to ask, but it would be huge for a Wizards team that has its eyes set on an Eastern Conference title.